X1900XT 512MB Died. Poor cooling. Questions.

[rob[GL]]

So, customer today brought in a BBA RADEON X1900XT 512MB... Just purchased it 5 days ago. Apparently was playing FEAR for a few hours, the GPU temp was up over 90c for an extended period of time, customer closed the game, and went to take a shower... Came back and the card was toast... Computer was beeping away...

Bummer for the customer, but this raises the question, is 90c too hot for any card? Or did this card just fail prematurely? I know my X1800XT 512MB got to over 90c under heavy gaming, and it did not die... I thought it was very hot though, so I watercooled mine and now sit about half that.

But for your average user, who will probably not water cool, and just stick to the stock cooler... Is there a risk of any card dying? Or as I asked a second ago, was this just an odd case?


Also, I took some pictures... Can ANYONE tell me what the heck the 2 dip-switches on the bottom of the card do? Has anyone switch them to the "on" position? What do they do? I"M CURIOUS!!!!!!!!!11

:stick:

[MuMiXaM]

I have a ati x1900xt 512 and i havent seen it get near 90c, but my old 9800pro with stock cooling run around 90c with no artifacts

[Dumo]

Welcome to XS MuMIXaM:toast:

@ rob, did you try to test that card on your rig?

[Daveb2012]

Thats not good, I hope mine never dies on me because I don't have any warranty on it, its OEM. I feel better now about spending 75.00 on a zalman cooler and ram sinks. A big part of me was thinking it was a waste.

[Doumz]

card is dead,so o doubt he tested it

we clearely see in the pics that the pcb is burned since it's black

[cantankerous]

That is my fear too. The card dying as it does get mighty hot. My x1800xt got to 92c once looping 3dmark01. I quicky stopped it. The card has been fine since. I have sold it for my X1900XTX and the new owner of the X1800XT has had no issues. Even with the fan speed at 82% on my X1900XTX I can still get close to 80c. These cards are very hot by nature. I hope the new Zalman VF900 does well or I am going to have to go the Accelero X2 route. I want to be able to keep my temps at 75c or under at all times and with much less noise. With the summer coming it is only going to get worse.

[rob[GL]]

Still nobody has answered about the dip-switched on the bottom of the card?

Will somebody with an X1900XT please try switching them on and off and tell me what they do? :P:

[Kriller]

I have allways thougt the dip-switch is a PAL/NTSC switch, I got the same on my old X850 and my X1800...

[menlatin]

Im gonna say it again. This card needs WC, or a big Cu Cpu Heatsink.

[cantankerous]

Unfortunately not everyone is game for wc me included. ATI should know this and not expect us all to jump to more exotic cooling just to enjoy their products.

[Dynasty]

90 C's is quite high for the R580/520 gpu's. My stock X1800 XT that i use to game the odd time
with stock hsf @ 95% & ceramique never saw anything over 65 C's on load.
This was same with my 1900 XTX on stock cooler, temps
never exceeded over 65 C's with stock hsf @ 95% fan with load.
My ambient/room temps were 17 C's.

[NickS]

Wow dude. Maybe ATiTool screwed up teh FAN?

I'd cry if my X1900 died... lol. (No, but seriously.)

[STEvil]

nobody makes good GPU heatsinks and the contact almost always sucks. The fans are unreliable..

Hear that ATi and nVidia? You guys suck at cooling your "high performance" hardware!

[Chr0n1c]

I thought the dipswitches were for CF?

Pretty scary to hear about an X19 burning up like that O_O.

[[XC] Lead Head]

I have those same switches on my x800 pro vivo, right under neath them it says

1. Off
-------- -NTSC
2. Off


1.On
-------- - PAL
2.On


Why is the burnt/discolored parts of the PCB not near the core? like around the edges of the card, i would imagine that the PCB under the core would be really burnt?

i dropped load temps of my x800 pro by 15*C by cleaning out the dust on the fins of the heatsink.

[Eastcoasthandle]

I didn't play with either of mine, I lapped the HS because all of them have the drill cuts in them. This reduce temps a lot for me. The major issue is how cool you keep your case. Most gamers don't even give it a second thought until they get owned by the heat. What suprised me is the number of gamers that have 1 exhaust or 1 intake fan with fans on the side (which are no good..even read an article about it). All you need is 2 120mm fans for 1 exhaust and 1 intake and you should be safe in most cases. 80mm fans are simply loud and don't do as well, IMO. In any case here are some pics of my setup if it can help you...

photos of lapping HS (http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=8385)

[Eastcoasthandle]

I have those same switches on my x800 pro vivo, right under neath them it says

1. Off
-------- -NTSC
2. Off


1.On
-------- - PAL
2.On


Why is the burnt/discolored parts of the PCB not near the core? like around the edges of the card, i would imagine that the PCB under the core would be really burnt?

i dropped load temps of my x800 pro by 15*C by cleaning out the dust on the fins of the heatsink.

That looks like electrical arching of some kind. Why it's there who knows but that would be a result of some level of grounding??? Someone help me here...

[Kunaak]

its kinda ridiculous to have a piece of hardware at 90C for a few hours on end and expect it to live.
thats 194 F...
hell, at that kinda temp, you should just put it in your oven and cook it.

but... my friend pat, he still uses a 9700 pro AIW, that hes had for like 3 years now.
I swear that thing is like 200 degrees at idle.
its sooooooo damn hot, that it will seriously burn you if you touch it.
especially after playing a game.
his cards been fine for years, and that card is waaaaaaay hotter then anything I seen recently.

but still, I don't like how hot these X1900s run.
the stock cooling on them is just pure junk too.
when I took the heatsink off mine, the core looked like it was lapped with like 100 grit sand paper and thats it.
it was sooooooo incredibly bad, that I had to fix it that second.
there was just no way I could put that piece of junk back on there.

now, if only some company would release a good heatsink for these cards... so I have a option of cooling it, better....

[Eastcoasthandle]

its kinda ridiculous to have a piece of hardware at 90C for a few hours on end and expect it to live.
thats 194 F...
hell, at that kinda temp, you should just put it in your oven and cook it.

but... my friend pat, he still uses a 9700 pro AIW, that hes had for like 3 years now.
I swear that thing is like 200 degrees at idle.
its sooooooo damn hot, that it will seriously burn you if you touch it.
especially after playing a game.
his cards been fine for years, and that card is waaaaaaay hotter then anything I seen recently.

but still, I don't like how hot these X1900s run.
the stock cooling on them is just pure junk too.
when I took the heatsink off mine, the core looked like it was lapped with like 100 grit sand paper and thats it.
it was sooooooo incredibly bad, that I had to fix it that second.
there was just no way I could put that piece of junk back on there.

now, if only some company would release a good heatsink for these cards... so I have a option of cooling it, better....

I take it you no fan of Accelero X2 (http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=90) either...

[Kunaak]

I take it you no fan of Accelero X2 (http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=90) either...

of course I am... but they aren't coming out till march.
I need cooling today :D

[situman]

Doesn't thermalright make decent coolers for vidcard?

[Eastcoasthandle]

I have been thinking about this for sometime now. There is no indication that it would fit the x1000 series though....
tide water (http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/2005/watercooling/cl-w0052TideWater/cl-w0052.htm) If it fits the core I don't see why this wouldn't reduce temps any better then other water solution and it's tidy...

[Chr0n1c]

I have been thinking about this for sometime now. There is no indication that it would fit the x1000 series though....
tide water (http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/2005/watercooling/cl-w0052TideWater/cl-w0052.htm) If it fits the core I don't see why this wouldn't reduce temps any better then other water solution and it's tidy...

I always wondered about that thing. Haha, anyone here have one?

[cantankerous]

Wow, that thing looks cool. Never heard of it till now but it may work well. The fan looks like the stock ATI fan but the specs show it to be much cooler. IF anyone has experience with that please share. I would grab one in a second although two pci spaces gone is a lot when some of the newer boards only have 3 total.

[freecableguy]

DIP switches change VIVO output video type from PAL to NTSC.

[texuspete00]

Thats not good, I hope mine never dies on me because I don't have any warranty on it, its OEM. I feel better now about spending 75.00 on a zalman cooler and ram sinks. A big part of me was thinking it was a waste.

Lady on the phone told me a sapphire OEM comes with two years still. Hope she wasn't full of :banana::banana::banana::banana:e! Mades sense to me though. Even considering most products outside computers, cpu makers are the first I noticed that wash their hands from you immediately.

[sabrewolf732]

Doesn't thermalright make decent coolers for vidcard?

thermalright makes the best gpu hsf. :stick:

[Daveb2012]

I just ordered this for my card, mine gets around 80c stock right now after gaming for a few hours. FS-V7 zalman cooler, and some swiftec copper ram sinks for memory:

http://www.zalman.co.kr/upload/product/FS_V7_c_p.jpg

http://www.jab-tech.com/xcart/product_images/detailed/d_2439.jpg

I will just use the FS-V7 until the VF900 comes out. Im not about to wait until June though to get better cooling for my card. I won't even buy the VF900 until reviews also, but im confident it will be cooler then the FS-V&

[Daveb2012]

Lady on the phone told me a sapphire OEM comes with two years still. Hope she wasn't full of :banana::banana::banana::banana:e! Mades sense to me though. Even considering most products outside computers, cpu makers are the first I noticed that wash their hands from you immediately.

can any one else confirm this? That is great news if its true, who did you speak to on the phone regarding that?

[Eastcoasthandle]

what program allows you to monitor load temps? The makers of Rivatuner have yet to update their program for x1900...

[cantankerous]

I hope the FS-V7 holds up for you. I had one and found it couldn't handle the high load of the X1900 very well.

[[XC] Lead Head]

what program allows you to monitor load temps? The makers of Rivatuner have yet to update their program for x1900...


ATI Tool, Everest, MBM5, ATI Tray Tools

[Daveb2012]

I hope the FS-V7 holds up for you. I had one and found it couldn't handle the high load of the X1900 very well.

Thats not good, what are you using now?? did it improve temps at all beyond your stock cooler?

[cantankerous]

In all honesty I am using the stock cooler for my X1900XT. I used the Zalman on my X1800 before I sold it. Noise was way down and temps were ok but really not much better if at all over stock. Temps still got into the 80's without much work.

[Diverge]

IMO, looking at the pictures it looks like the voltage regulator portion of the card overheated and which took out the other various compenents you see in other spots. Like someone mentioned earlier, the area of the core doesn't look like it overheated (at least from your pictures).

[alexandre.BR]

My X800XT, during BF2 gaming, is over 80ºC all the time and it's still here. Adding up, it's been working perfectly for months right now.

I think tha was a defective card or a problem with the PSU, maybe.

[Harshal]

Damn man... that is one HOT card. Koolance offers good liquid Cooling solution for GFX cards. I have one and apart from 1/4 pipe design its doing good to keep temps at half of Stock.

[situman]

thermalright makes the best gpu hsf. :stick:

Is that sarcasm? lol I can't tell.

[alexandre.BR]

I think that since the 9800PRO's problems everybody thinks that ATI vga's aren't trustable. Well, I keep saying that was a defective card or a psu problem.

[ElAguila]

He must have had a defective fan on his hs or his case is not cool at all. I play fear and hl2 all the time and my temps never go above 60c and I am oc'd with stock cooling.

[ahmad]

I love customers who give you interesting stories about how their card died...

Even if the card was at 90*C for a couple of days, it should have no problems surviving.

[deathman20]

If people are having high temp issues put a 120mm fan blowing onto the card or open some of the solts in the back of the case to let more air flow out. Doing that on mine dropped temps ~8C on my card.

[raju]

Hi,

the only time I have seen temps hit that sort of level is when the pci slot covers aren't removed for the air outlet. I think a few people have forgotten that these are dual slot cards and left the cover plate in place, hence the high temps. My 1900's never seem to go over 75oc even when overclocked and under load, that's with stock cooling..............

Thanks
Raja

[biohead]

something shorted probably. If he closed the game while showering it can't be heat. Probably a fuxxed PSU.

[nicepun]

Hi guys. I have the same black mark on my x1800xt and it's working fine AFAIK. I've benched, played BF2, COD2, HL2, etc. and remains fine. Any thoughts???



http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/1191/picture3706ws.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture3706ws.jpg)

[nicepun]

the die proces has started :D

How would I be able to tell the video card has started to die???

[texuspete00]

can any one else confirm this? That is great news if its true, who did you speak to on the phone regarding that?

This was the number I called. Only one one their site I could find.:

USA Office: 280-290 S Paseo Tesoro, Walnut CA. 91789, USA
Tel: 909-594-0597

Is sapphire what you have? It would be cool if you gave them a call rather than me call twice. :) I called during normal business hours and they picked up fast and she didn't seem to have any problem answering that question for me. Seemed confident. She just told me two years.

[Eastcoasthandle]

he's just messing with you. As long as the damage does not focus around traces and circuits you are fine

[nicepun]

he's just messing with you. As long as the damage does not focus around traces and circuits you are fine

Cool, I was starting to worry and wonder because this baby hasn't seen temps above 50c at load!!

[texuspete00]

He must have had a defective fan on his hs or his case is not cool at all. I play fear and hl2 all the time and my temps never go above 60c and I am oc'd with stock cooling.

O_o

[PlatoonSgtElias]

Hmm are u guys sending it to RMA?
Our store sends those customers to hell.. :S freaky place where i work...whenever smth is burned it is the customer who has done it and our shop wont accept to send it anywhere... is that legal?? :S

[oohms]

Yeah we do that where i work... unless they get really angry about it, then we send it away and make them wait 4 weeks for their h/w to be more 'officially' rejected

[sabrewolf732]

Is that sarcasm? lol I can't tell.

It's serious.

[Sneaky]

yeah my x1900xtx @ 690/1600 never got hotter than 70º on stock cooling... that worried me enough and i couldn't wait to get WC back on my card... but now WC is on, higest load temp i've seen was 43º :)


http://www.fragtek.com/sneaky/p3mid1/maze4.jpg



but 90º for a prolonged period of time? god damn! thats insanity for ANYTHING!